Sam Houston Futurity

Jess Flying Cowgirl, a homebred daughter of Flying Cowboy 123 owned by Juan M. Lozano Jr. and the fourth-fastest overall qualifier, broke her maiden in Saturday's $461,835 Sam Houston Futurity (G2) at Sam Houston Race Park.

Ridden by Ubaldo Luna for trainer Juan Diaz Jr., Jess Flying Cowgirl covered 330 yards in :16.684, and her margin of victory was a head from Red Reddington. The Texas-bred filly earned a 105 speed index while banking the $184,734 winner's share of the purse.

Luna is currently the third-leading rider at the Delta Downs meet. Jose Herbert rode Jess Flying Cowgirl in the filly's trial.

“(Juan Lozano) called me and asked if I would ride in the final in Houston,” said Luna. "I told him I would ask my agent (his wife, Kristen). Then I called him back and said, 'Yes, I would come and ride.'”

Jess Flying Cowgirl is out of Traffic Juana, an unraced daughter of the First Down Dash stallion Dash Thru Traffic. Her second dam, the Mystic Eye mare Juana Mystica, won three futurities in Texas in 1985.
 
Diaz has won the last three runnings of the Sam Houston Futurity, and he was pleased with the effort of his most recent winner.

“She ran a lot better than people expected,” the trainer said of Jess Flying Cowgirl, who was sent to post at odds of 11-1. “She needed her last race to do what she did tonight.”

Jess Flying Cowgirl was winning for the first time in three starts and has earned $187,064.
 
AQHA News and information is a service of the American Quarter Horse Association. For more news and information, follow @AQHA Racing on Twitter, "like" Q-Racing on Facebook, and visit www.aqha.com/racing.